Originally Posted by Unregistered

To be fair, people being more sensitive to exploitation (and yes lawyers are heavily exploited) is not the same as juniors "can't take long hours", it's more an acknowledgement that there is a systemic rot in the system (the fact that you were exploited and made to work x-hour days just shows that seniors have been exploiting juniors for years and years). Don't fall into the same tekan culture that you were a victim of. Law firms can definitely AFFORD to hire more lawyers, they merely choose not to (and would rather overwork associates) in order to bolster the profits of the Senior Partners.

Also, you must acknowledge that the average lawyer now works harder than the average lawyer 10 years ago (where TCs flowed freely and people weren't desk-bound at odd hours because e-litigation and online 23.59 submissions were not the norm). Arguing otherwise is just nonsensical, the additional pressures of law on juniors (due to technological advancement) is something most senior lawyers freely admit.

Additionally most research/drafting issues are ingrained from direct-seniors (SAs and JPs), meaning that the reason why the standard of drafting has decreased (if it actually has - perhaps you are just looking at the work with an experienced eye) usually has to do with their seniors (i.e. you) not teaching them properly. Your work may have been equally bad in your formative years) but you may have had a good teacher (i.e. seniors). Nowadays, most seniors (my PQE especially) are really self-centered and moan and moan about their juniors, refusing to do anything to help them, when we probably were just as bad at the start. I think it's the competitiveness of the industry and the general exploitation of young lawyers (i.e. there is no time to train your juniors like there was in the past).